Glory on the Battlefield
by Kami no Kage
Summary: A thousand people on the battlefield had a thousand different reasons for fighting. But Jaune knew that they all had one thing in common, no matter where they came from or what they believed in: the desire to be exalted. It was a desire that Jaune most of all, as he had come to Beacon in the hopes of becoming a hero. He would become a hero.
1. Knight's Rise I

**AN: Started writing this story solely on a whim, we'll see how it goes. The premise is that Jaune unlocked his semblance at the same time that Pyrrha unlocked his aura. It's a little different from the norm I think, hopefully interesting. This story should be quite different from canon, so take care if you want just a rehash. Spoilers for all volumes, 1 through 4 as of the time of this publishing, so take care.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, and I have no funny jokes to post here. Boo x 2.**

The Knight's Rise I

Even as Jaune Arc was launched into the air by some giant scorpion grimm, screaming his head off, he couldn't help but inwardly smile and laugh a little. He didn't know how he was going to land after being launched through the air for the second time that day, but he felt an inexplicable sense of budding hope growing within him. Back in his home town, no one had believed in him and his dream, and his parents had even told him that it was okay if he was sent back home. But in his short day at Beacon, he had found a new friend, a girl who seemed to like him, and a partner who he was sure he would get along well with.

Then again, his initiation had turned into a veritable battlefield with all the being launched around and giant human-hating monsters, so there were downsides as well as upsides.

Still, he didn't have long to think of any of this, as he soon impacted a similarly flying red projectile, sending them both into a tree. Dazed, Jaune looked down, finding himself on a tree branch, and saw his newest friend, Ruby Rose, lying on the ground. "Hi Jaune!" Ruby called out to him, hand waving, much too happy for having fallen out of the sky.

"Hi Ruby," Jaune sighed, waving his own hand at her. There wasn't much time for pleasantries however, as a familiar and refined voice called down from above them.

"I can't believe you left me up here!" Weiss cried out, barely holding on to a giant bird grimm that made Jaune think that maybe it was a bit too soon to have any kind of budding hope inside of him, considering how dangerous just initiation had turned out.

"I told you to jump!" responded Ruby, getting up from the ground and urging Weiss to come down with wide sweeps of her arms that sent the red cloak she was wearing flying around her.

"She's going to fall."

"Yeah, totally gonna fall."

Two new voices rang out, making Jaune finally take a good look around, seeing that he had somehow made his way to the ruin he and his partner where supposed to find, and that he and Ruby weren't the first ones there. Ruby's attractive blonde sister, Yang Xiao Long, was checking up on Ruby, and a girl he could just remember from last night, with raven black hair and a nice little bow on her head was right behind her. She must have been Yang's partner.

The ruins themselves were arranged into a circle, with short pillars holding little glinting chess pieces that had to be the relics they were looking for. Some were missing, showing that people had arrived even before Yang and her black-haired partner.

Thinking of what to do about his partner, who had been left behind when he had been unkindly launched into the air, his head shot up as a terrified scream came from above him. Weiss had finally gotten tired and couldn't hold on anymore, and was now plummeting towards the ground just like he and Ruby had.

"She's falling," remarked the bow clad girl, stating the obvious.

Wasting no time and ignoring Yang's partner, Jaune jumped up from his tree branch to catch Weiss, and once again wondered just how he was going to land as soon as he had her in his arms. Desperately trying to hide his panic, he weakly smiled. "Just dropping in?"

Before Weiss had a chance to do more than glare fiercely at Jaune, they had already reached the ground, his legs hurting more than he could ever remember, but miraculously not collapsing or dropping Weiss, a faint golden glow in his legs showing he probably had his partner to thank for unlocking his forcefield power. "You okay…?" Jaune gasped out, letting Weiss down with no little pain, before crookedly walking over to hold himself up against one of the nearby trees.

Not having stopped glaring at him, but somewhat grateful, Weiss grounded out her thanks. "I suppose you helped me out, _thank you._ " Jaune's mouth was just widening into a large smile when Weiss continued. "But that is _not_ to say that I couldn't have saved myself you know! Next time, refrain from giving me your _aid_ unless I am to ask for it!"

Jaune only really heard one part of her sentence. "There's going to be a next time?"

Weiss let out a huff and made to turn away, but was distracted when a loud rumbling started to come from inside the forest. Before anyone could move, a large bear grimm came out of the woods, white light coming from its back, and it collapsed forward. An orange haired girl popped up behind it, evidently having been riding it. "Aww, it's broken…" she said, face showing her disappointment.

Behind her, a dark haired boy with a magenta stripe in his hair gasped as he caught up. "Nora, please never do that again." His words were quickly ignored as the girl, Nora, went skipping up to the ruins.

"Did that girl just ride in on an ursa?" asked the raven haired girl, her words directed at Yang, who shrugged, face set in fast growing confusion, and Jaune wondered if this was going to be a reoccurring thing with her.

Just as Jaune was about to decide whether he should join her, or worry about the circling and increasingly impatient giant black bird above them, his own partner finally caught up to them, the scorpion that had thrown him fast behind her.

"Is that a Deathstalker following that girl?" asked the raven haired girl again, making Jaune think that she really had quite the odd hobby. Beside her, Yang lost it.

"Will you people all just shut up for two seconds?!" Yang exploded, her blonde hair glowing so brightly Jaune almost thought it was on fire. Though Jaune agreed with her, none of the people at the ruins could oblige her, as Ruby ran off to fight the scorpion grimm advancing toward them, quickly getting knocked back and then fired at by the giant bird above them. With enormous black feathers Jaune noted, incredulous and gaping.

Jaune stood still, practically frozen and wondering when birds had developed the ability to shoot their feathers like bullets, as Weiss went out to help Ruby. She encased the large grimm in ice and helped Ruby get free of a feather that had gotten stuck in her cloak, then proceeding to have some kind of heart to heart with Ruby that he felt would be rude to eavesdrop in. Shaking himself off and turning his head upwards, he blanched, and looked towards the others nervously.

"Uh, guys, that things kinda circling back right now. What should we do?" Jaune asked, a slight sweat on his forehead.

Weiss turned back and spied the circling Nevermore. "There's no point sticking around here. We should just grab our relics and go." Ruby quickly agreed beside her.

"Run and live, now that's a plan I can happily go along with!" stated Jaune.

-A wild line break appears!-

 _This isn't just_ like _a battlefield,_ Jaune remarked to himself, _this_ is _a battlefield!_

Behind Jaune sat a broken bridge connecting a second set of ruins, which the giant black bird monster had broken just moments ago. His new friends had informed him that it was called a Nevermore. In front of him, he and his partner along with the green clad boy who's name was Lie Ren, and his own partner who was called Nora Valkyrie, were attempting to desperately survive against the giant scorpion that had sent him flying just a little while earlier. Apparently, it was called a Deathstalker, a name which gave Jaune no little fright.

Ruby and her sister Yang, along with the lovely Weiss and Captain Obvious, who Jaune now knew was called Blake Belladonna, were across the bridge fighting the Nevermore. He was a little worried about them, but he had his own large problem to worry about, he mused, as he blocked one of the Deathstalker's large claws. Well, the word blocked might have been a bit strong, as he was promptly launched onto his back, leaving Pyrrha to thrust and twirl her way around the claws, trying to hit one of its many eyes. It wasn't going so well for her either, as she was forced to block a thrust of its tail with her own round bronze colored shield, thrown back, but unlike him, landing gracefully on her feet with her weapons up and ready.

Ren was shooting at it wildly, trying to focus his shots on the thing's tail, but it was too small and too fast a target. Nora was swinging her large hammer around, doing the most damage, as she forced it to move with every strike of her large Warhammer. Jaune once again threw himself forwards, aiming to help Pyrrha hit its eyes, but gasped as the thing's tail hit him in his chest armor, forcing him to the ground and leaving a large gash that thankfully did not penetrate.

"Are you okay, Jaune?" called out Pyrrha, taking his place and far too busy twirling around the Deathstalker's attacks to go check on him. He grunted out an affirmative to her and got up, ignoring how his muscles were starting to burn badly now.

Ren was quickly tiring Jaune noted, panting more and more and his graceful movements becoming ever sloppier, though he hadn't been forced to the ground like him. Nora was cackling with every swing of her hammer, forcing the Deathstalker more and more back and leaving them with more breathing room, but even she would run out of strength eventually, he thought. His muscles burning and starting to gasp his breaths, he pulled Ren out of the way of the thing's fast moving tail and received another gash in his chest armor for his efforts, knocking them both to the ground.

"Come on, Jaune." Ren helped him get up, quickly rejoining the fight.

Throwing himself back at the giant monster's claws, Jaune tried to mimic Pyrrha's twirls but had limited success, being hit and pushed back with almost every attack aimed at him. His sword left not so much as a scratch on its thick armor, though his teammates fared no better. Nora's hammer was caught by a fast thrust of the Deathstalker's tail, making Ren catch her.

As the fight continued, Jaune's muscles were crying out for him to stop and rest, his breath came out in short gasps that didn't give him half enough air to breathe properly, and the rest of his team was fast tiring. Nora had stopped pushing the monster back, and in just a few moments he was sure that it would start forcing them back now, towards the end of the bridge and into a deep chasm.

Soon, the only thing Jaune could think about was how hard his heart was pounding in his chest, so loud he was sure the others could hear it if it weren't for the other sounds blanketing the battlefield. Ren's guns firing, Nora's heavy strikes and grenades, and the clangs of Pyrrha's part spear and part sword and part rifle trying to pierce or break the Deathstalker's strong armor. It was what he could only imagine a real warzone, like the kind his grandfather had always told him about in his stories would sound.

"This isn't working guys! Anyone got any ideas?" Jaune called out, desperate for anything. He received only the sound of grunts, and bullets, and steel hitting bone carapace.

 _Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here after all_ , Jaune thought. _Maybe mom and dad and my sisters were right. I'm not cut out for this. Everyone else got in fair and square, but I'm nothing but some faker._

Though Jaune was all scratched up and beaten, his impromptu teammates had yet to take a single scratch, though they had gotten knocked around a little. Each of them did provide something to the fight however, enough that they hadn't lost yet, though they would soon. He was clearly the weakest link there. _A hero? How am I going to be a hero if this is all I can do?_ Jaune thought, starting to become lost in his own weakness. Just that morning he had felt an abundance of budding hope in his chest, but it was all but dead now.

Ren was the first of the others to take a direct hit, so tired he looked like he could collapse any second now. "Renny!" gasped Nora, leaving the fight to Pyrrha and Jaune to go help him up. "Come on Renny, up you get, it's not time to take a nap yet!" Ren groaned but got up.

 _If only I could be like them_ , Jaune wished. Though the fight wasn't going so well, they all had their own looks of determination on their faces. Pyrrha's face hadn't changed since they had started fighting, and even Ren who had just been knocked down hadn't shown any sign of giving up. They would make much better heroes than him.

 _Everyone here is trying to be a hero, just like me. Everyone's much stronger than me, they've been training their whole lives for this, right?_ Jaune wondered, his dream dying. He watched Pyrrha's face, determined and strong. _Is this really all I can do?_

How was he going to be a hero like his ancestors if this was all he could do, Jaune wondered. His teammates were losing the fight, but they all wanted to win, to rise above this situation and become heroes, much greater than he could ever hope to be.

"Maybe we should just run guys," Pyrrha said, looking at them all, the least injured and the least tired. "It would be a shame, but this isn't worth our lives."

 _No!_ Jaune shouted in his mind. Pyrrha was strong; she would be a hero who saved many people one day, he knew. There was no way he was going to let her run just because they, because he, was too weak. Beacon was the premier school for hunstmen in the Kingdom of Vale. He had faked himself in to train because he wanted to be great someday, to live up to the legacy of his family. Pyrrha was surely there for the same reason, as was Ren, and Nora, too.

 _I'm better than this! I might never be as strong as Pyrrha, or even as Ren and Nora, but I can't just give up here! Not now, not when I'm just at the starting line!_ Jaune cried out in his mind. He wouldn't falter here, he would be great one day, like his ancestors before him. He would not drag his friends down because he was too weak.

Jaune slowly started to regain his strength as he watched the others, desperately fighting with determination he could only envy and hope to one day achieve a fraction of.

 _Why did I even come here if this is all it takes to bring me down?! Live and run? I can do more than that!_ Jaune raged against himself. "Gahhh, screw you, you giant bug!" he yelled as hard as he could, his sword coming down so hard a crack finally appeared on the Deathstalker's armored head. Everyone stared for a long moment, breathless. Having found his resolve, a golden glow began to suffuse through Jaune's body.

Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora all stopped fighting to stare at him, and the Deathstalker miraculously watched and waited rather than attack them while they were distracted. Jaune knew exactly what to do now. "Head in the game guys! Pyrrha, it's head armor is cracked, you can get it this time! Ren, distract it so Pyrrha can get at it! Nora, get over and behind it and stop it from moving around so much!"

Snapping out of it, his partner gave him a wide smile and shifted her rifle into its spear form. "Of course, Jaune!"

Ren, who had actually begun smiling, gave his acknowledgment with a simple nod and set to firing on the Deathstalker, making the Deathstalker ignore the orange-head who had launched herself up and above it with a grenade. Pyrrha finally took out one of its eyes, making it flail around hard, but Nora hit it so hard from behind it went forward a few feet. Jaune gulped at what he was about to do, sweat running down his arms and making his grip on his sword and shield feel quite loose, but held his face set as solidly as he could.

 _I have no idea what I'm doing here, and I have no idea how to really fight this thing and win. But how can I, we, be heroes if we're stopped by this much, this early on!_ Jaune argued at himself.

Jaune crouched down and readied himself, the golden glow around him strengthening. The Deathstalker clearly didn't know what to do anymore, and it was all but stuck into place as it was hit on all sides. It was shaking and trying to spin, claws waving around and tail trying to find purchase on one of them, getting angrier and angrier.

Jaune waited, and finally yelled and leapt up as hard as he could as soon as he found what he thought was a good opening. "Give me a boost, Pyrrha!" he cried, tears streaming down his face due to how frightened he was. She placed her round shield on her shoulder, and pushed up as he landed on it.

 _Didn't even know I could jump like this!_ he thought to himself, and then yelled one more time as he landed and furiously swiped his sword forward, severing the Deathstalkers tail in one slice, causing a large amount of black ichor shoot out. He froze for just a moment, watching the tail starting to fall and the ichor start to stain his clothes and armor, as the 'ground' below him immediately started spasming and trying to knock him off.

"Nora!" Jaune called out, voice starting to become hoarse. "Hit it hard!"

In a brilliant display of ability that Jaune knew he did not possess but didn't have even a fraction of a second to dwell on, he kicked the tail up high above him, as Nora came flying in and smashed it hard into the middle of the Deathstalker's back, causing more black ichor to shoot out and making him unceremoniously fall off. The Deathstalker gave out one last screech before it completely collapsed, dead.

Lying on the ground and watching black smoke start to come off the corpse and blood on his chest, Jaune finally relaxed and let go of both sword and shield of Crocea Mors in his hands. Breathing hard and fast enough he almost thought he was hyperventilating, he started to laugh. To the side, Nora was whooping with joy and hugging Ren, who was half-heartedly trying to shake her off and almost on his knees, but with his own small smile. Above him, his partner slowly filled his vision, smiling at him softly in a way that would have made him stutter and blush if he hadn't felt so tired and elated.

"Excellent work, Jaune. I can see why you were accepted into Beacon even without aura," she congratulated him, hand extended to help him up. Accepting both her thanks and help, not even thinking to feel guilty about her statement with the large positive emotion inside of him, he simply beamed at her.

Remembering suddenly about his other friend fighting a giant bird creature, he let go of Pyrrha and frantically looked across the bridge, just managing to watch as Ruby ran up the cliff and decapitated the Nevermore. Mouth open, Jaune could only say "What the hell? Wow!"

-A wild line break appears!-

Jaune was exhausted. He and his friends were slumping against a wall in a large auditorium, caked in dirt and watching alongside an audience of what could only be older Beacon students, as the teams were announced in the front by the silver haired professor with the cane, Ozpin, on a large screen showing team names and faces. Despite the hard battle they had been through and his great exhaustion, the budding hope that had almost wilted and died during their fight with the Deathstalker had grown bigger and hotter than it ever had.

He had proven himself. Jaune Arc may not be the strongest one there, he may be the weakest link, but he had come up with the plan to save them. In the heat of battle, he had somehow grown stronger than he had ever been. He could only hope to ever be as great as Pyrrha, or Ren, or Nora, but he would be a hero, alongside them. He would be great, too. He just knew it.

The ceremony passed by rather eventfully, full of cheering and new happy huntsmen and women in training, until finally, it was his turn. The silver haired professor started listing off names, and he and his new team assembled on the stage before his new peers. "Jaune Arc. Pyrrha Nikos. Lie Ren. Nora Valkyrie. Having collected the white rook pieces, you will now be known as Team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."

"Led by who?!" Jaune gasped, head swinging towards the screen with his team's faces and names. _Me? The weakest out of all four of us?_ Nora cheered and started jumping, making him wonder where she got all her energy from. Ren gave him a nod of acknowledgment, a small smile on his face that Jaune knew was a cheer from anyone else. Pyrrha playfully bumped his shoulder, but tired as he was, he collapsed on the ground from it.

"Oh no! I'm sorry!" Pyrrha apologized profusely, helping him up, a blush of embarrassment on her face. The entire crowd plus Nora had started to laugh and Jaune couldn't help but join in with them, a wide smile on his face.

"Congratulations young man," came the soft voice of Professor Ozpin, shaking Jaune's hand once he was up.

 _Just this morning I would've been too embarrassed for words,_ thought Jaune, coming off the stage to watch the newly formed Team RWBY with his friends. _But I've proved myself. Pyrrha even said so, and apparently, she's super famous or something. I belong here._

Jaune clapped for Team RWBY as hard as he could.

-A wild line break appears!-

The next morning, Jaune was the first to wake up. Having grown up with seven younger sisters, he was quite used to waking up early in the morning. He and his team had been led to their new dorm after the ceremony last night, right across from Team RWBY. It was small and didn't really have enough room for four people, but it had a small window looking over the Beacon grounds, and felt surprisingly homely.

By the time the others woke up and joined Jaune a short while later, he had already had a morning shower and was reading the new issue of his favorite comic, which he had picked up and promised himself not to read until he was safely accepted into Beacon.

"Morning guys," Jaune greeted them, sitting on his bed.

"Mornin', Fearless Leader!" was Nora's greeting, springing up out of bed. "I wonder what's for breakfast this morning? Ooh, I hope it's pancakes!"

"Good morning, Jaune," came Pyrrha's greeting to Jaune. She immediately started to unpack her things, starting with her uniform and toiletries.

Ren simply nodded, sleepily heading to the bathroom, clearly not a morning person. Jaune started to unpack his own things together with his team, having held back so he wouldn't wake them up. As they slowly worked, Nora volunteered to fill the silence.

"Man, yesterday was awesome, wasn't it? That Deathstalker didn't know what was coming! We all went like whoosh, and clang, and it went all 'Aargh, you've killed me!'" Nora happily chirped off. "Jauney, what was that golden glow you had on while you were fighting yesterday? It was so cool, and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, too."

Jaune's hands stopped as he considered her question, having noticed himself but dismissing it in the heat of the moment. "I dunno, I just figured it was my forcefield, err, aura. It looked kinda like when Pyrrha unlocked it."

"Pyrrha did? You mean your aura wasn't unlocked before yesterday?" asked Ren, who had come out of the shower and let Pyrrha in. He looked faintly impressed, and voiced so. "That's impressive, Jaune. Not many can claim to have been accepted into Beacon like that. Though, that wouldn't have been your aura, it would've been your semblance. Nora's right actually, looking at that golden glow, I remembered…"

Ren trailed off and looked at the grinning and happy Nora sorting through her things, clearly remembering something in the past between them.

Jaune laughed a little unsteadily, not wanting to pry and also remembering how exactly it was that he had gotten into Beacon. "Yeah, well, you know. I'm from a small village outside of the kingdom, and there was no one there who ever offered. To be honest, I didn't even know what aura was until Pyrrha told me about it. Which also means I don't know what a semblance is."

"Really?" asked Ren, puzzled now. "Didn't you hear of it in school? Every huntsman has aura, it's not something unusual to at least learn of in your classes."

Coughing and looking away, Jaune felt chagrined. "Yes, well, I have seven younger sisters you know, and my family wasn't all that well off or anything. I didn't really focus on my schoolwork like I should've, since I spent a lot of time helping my family out and stuff."

"Well that's quite admirable," came Pyrrha's voice, done with her shower and drying her hair. "It explains some things a little more, too, I think. A semblance, Jaune, is a power manifests as a result of our aura. It is powered by our aura, and different for every person, with a few notable exceptions. Not everyone manifests one, so you should be proud of yourself."

Feeling pleased with himself, Jaune nodded and grinned happily. "So, what is my semblance then? A golden glow, making people feel warm and fuzzy…"

"I'm not sure, but I assume it must be a passive effect that activates during battle, and encourages your allies," explained Ren. "That's why Nora felt, well, 'warm and fuzzy.'"

"Not too shabby, and kinda good for a team leader, too," nodded Jaune. "Speaking of which, I wonder what's going to be expected of me as a leader. Well, I did get our schedule last night, guess that's the start of it…"

Jaune started looking through his things for the paper he was given last night, which contained their schedules for the day. _Can't believe classes already start today, you'd think they would at least give us one day to rest after initiation…_ Jaune thought to himself as he found the paper in his sweater. Examining the names of the rather odd sounding classes, he noted the time for the first class and looked to the clock to see how much time they had left. Slowly, the blood drained off his face, leaving him pale like a ghost.

"What's wrong, Jaune?" asked Pyrrha, making her bed. "You've gotten quite pale."

"Uh, guys, I think we uh, should get a move on. According to this, our first class is in… five minutes." Jaune slowly explained. Everyone turned to look at him and no one moved for a second.

"What?! Does this mean we don't have time for breakfast?!"

-A wild line break appears!-

Luckily, they weren't the only ones with a late start. Team RWBY had joined them in their morning sprint to their first class. Apparently, they had solved the problem of their cramped dorm with bunk beds, and had thus been kept busy unpacking and assembling them. Jaune felt a little jealous, having not even considered such, but it was too late for his own team to do so, having already set their room up.

The first class of the day was called Grimm Studies, and was held in a classroom full of fake stuffed grimm heads, diagrams of common grimm, some of which Jaune recognized from initiation, and there was a huge axe on a mantle above the center of the whiteboard. The teacher was a pleasantly plump man called Peter Port, with a smile as wide as his handsome mustache.

 _Wonder if I'll ever be able to grow facial hair like that,_ Jaune thought, hand on his face and feeling nothing but smooth skin, as every time he looked.

"Welcome everyone, to Grimm Studies! Creepy crawlies, creatures of the night, demons, the grimm! Or as I prefer to call them, prey!" the professor started. One student sitting a little above Jaune started to laugh a little, but quickly grew quiet and coughed when no one joined him. The professor's smile faltered a little but immediately grew back to full strength.

"Ahem, well, yes, that is what we will be studying in this class. But before anything else, how about a small story, about me, as a young boy!" Professor Port continued. Jaune was very interested in hearing a story from a real live huntsman and readied his notebook and pen for notes, but was fast disappointed as the professor's very boring tale rapidly turned into white noise. Looking around, he saw others trying to take notes and failing like him.

Ruby down below him had already started doodling in her notebook. The lovely Weiss was being attentive, her and Pyrrha trying to take notes, but both seemed to be failing to find much of anything worthwhile to write down. Nora was snoring already, Ren futilely trying to discreetly wake her up, but Professor Port didn't seem to notice.

Jaune resigned himself to lay his head on his notebook and try to absorb as much of the fatiguing story as he could, but quickly fell asleep.

Some time later, Jaune awoke to a hand shaking his shoulder. "Jaune… Jaune… Wake up, Jaune…" Groaning loudly, he lifted his face up to see his not so amused partner. "You can't fall asleep in class, Jaune. I know the professor's story was a little… Well… Dull, but you should try to stay awake and take some notes anyway," Pyrrha scolded him, gathering her things. Beside her Nora was vibrating with excitement.

"You missed the big fight, Boss! Professor Blah Blah let out this wicked boar grimm and Weiss fought it!" Nora happily informed him of what he had missed, and he suddenly felt extremely disappointed at having missed a fight with Weiss. "She was all like, whoosh, whoosh, with her rapier, and then the grimm was like 'No!' and knocked it out of her hand, but then-"

"I think that's enough, Nora," Ren calmed her down smoothly. "We get it. Also, please try to call our professor's by their real names." Nora just threw a raspberry at him, quickly gathering her things.

"It _was_ an interesting fight anyways, Jaune, I'd never seen that kind of grimm before, it was called a Boarbatusk apparently. You should try to stay awake next time. Well, not like you were the only one sleeping through most of the class anyway…" Ren trailed off, looking at Nora who had finished grabbing her things and was all but jumping up and down waiting for them.

"Oh yeah, what's our next class, we should get going," Jaune thought out loud, taking their schedule out. "History huh?"

Below JNPR, Weiss yelled angrily and stormed off from Ruby, taking Jaune's attention. "What's with her?" he asked, somewhat worriedly.

Ren shrugged. "She seemed to not take the advice of her teammates during her fight very well. You should probably leave them be to sort it out themselves. These things are to be expected with brand new teams." Jaune frowned but nodded his head, trying to look and see if Weiss was outside the classroom's door.

"I'm sure she'll be just fine, Jaune," said Pyrrha, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. He smiled at her and nodded, lifting up his bag and taking a look around. They were some of the last ones in the room. Blood draining from his face, he looked at the clock.

"We're going to be late again!"

-A wild line break appears!-

History had not gone so well either. They had rushed into the classroom, yet again, this time tripping on his way in the door and making the class laugh at him.

The professor, one Bartholomew Oobleck – _Doctor_ Bartholomew Oobleck that was, talked, moved, and wrote his notes so quickly Jaune could barely catch up. He had at least not fallen asleep this time, but it was hard, and he had not taken many worthwhile notes despite being awake. A quick glance at his partner's notebook had shown that she had actually kept up, but Jaune felt embarrassed at the thought of asking her for help.

Team RWBY was one of the first to leave he noted, and he saw that Weiss was still quite angry. Jaune had seen her taking furious notes and felt a bit envious that she could keep up with the doctor even while so upset. It was probably to be expected of someone like Weiss though, and he felt his admiration for her grow a little.

He should make an example of her for himself, he thought, but let his face fall onto his desk with a groan, too tired to think on how he should improve himself right then and there.

"Everything alright, Jaune?" asked Ren, seeing Jaune's face hit his desk. Pyrrha laughed and slapped his shoulder playfully, aching more than anything playful had any right to.

"Yeah, it's just, I'm not doing so well so far, am I? Falling asleep in Port's class, tripping on my way here, and now this…" Jaune tried to explain. Ren nodded sympathetically.

"It's just the first day. You'll have plenty of time to make up for today even just the rest of this week. And we'll be right here to help you with your studies if you need it," Ren told him.

"Yeah, and besides, it's not like everyone was being mean to you! You gotta admit, you made quite the entrance! And anyway, your team's here if anyone does try to make fun of you for it, we'll break their legs if they try!" Nora told him, going on to describe the classroom when he had tripped and how much she had laughed, making his face redden a little, but he just smiled at her. Nora, he was coming to learn, was simply like that.

"That's right, we're a team after all, that's how this works. Though, we probably won't be breaking anyone's legs, Nora, that does not seem quite, appropriate shall we say," Pyrrha talked, swinging her bag on her shoulder. Nora groaned disappointedly, making them all chuckle.

"Now come, it's time for lunch, is it not? A full stomach will help your mind rest a little," Pyrrha finished reassuring him, and held a hand out to him. Grateful, Jaune took her hand and hoisted himself up.

Beacon's lunchroom was huge, with large tables lined up from one side to the other, large windows showing a great view of the grounds, and a multitude of vending machines for all kinds of junk food and drinks. There was a surprisingly large amount of variety in the food, Jaune noted as he ordered. He even thought he saw a swordfish being eaten by one of the teams near the counter.

It did make some sense; Beacon was the most prestigious of Vale's huntsmen academies. Not the only one, but the biggest and most important. People came from all over Vale, and even from other Kingdoms to attend it. Thus, there had to be a wide variety of food, and being as prestigious as it was, a budget large enough to do it.

"Jaune, over here!" called a certain girl wearing a red cloak even over her uniform, as soon as he and his team started looking for a table. She was with Yang and Blake, but Weiss seemed to be missing from her table. _Wonder where Weiss is. And, is Ruby allowed to do that?_ Jaune wondered as he took a seat next to her. He also noted that one

"Hi, Ruby. Say, where's Weiss?" Jaune asked, looking around to see if he had missed her at the counter. "Shouldn't she be with you guys?" Ruby and her team looked at each other, clearly uncomfortable.

"Well, we had a bit of a, fight I guess," Ruby explained, face downcast.

"Yeah, the prissy little ice queen's upset that Ruby was the one made team leader instead of her," Yang explained, looking angry. Blake stayed silent, quietly eating with a book in one hand.

"Oh, uh, sorry I brought it up," was all Jaune could say, starting to feel uncomfortable. Well, it was natural to be upset about not being made leader if you were expecting it, he felt, but he also thought bringing it up like Weiss clearly had was a little rude. Well, it was Weiss, she probably had her reasons, he felt, she seemed intelligent enough for that, but said nothing. He looked away and started eating, the atmosphere turning slightly awkward.

"Well, if you want we can go find her and set her straight!" Nora offered, uncaring about the sudden silence. "We can go ahead and slap her silly 'till she sees the error of her ways!" Her suggestion was incredulous enough that everyone laughed a little, and the mood lightened.

No one brought up Weiss again, and they spent the rest of the lunch period talking about how they felt about their first day. Nora had a particularly interesting story about a fight with some grimm that left Ren groaning. Eventually, Jaune turned to the clock and felt a now familiar sensation in his face.

"We're gonna be late again!"

-A wild line break appears!-

Their final class of the day was a combat class with Professor Glynda Goodwitch, the blonde woman with glasses that had been with Professor Ozpin during initiation. JNPR and RWBY had once again just managed to not be late, though only by a hair. Jaune was glad for it, as the stern expression on the professor's face told him she wouldn't have been pleased if they had been tardy. The classroom was large, due to a stage in front of the seats, where he assumed they would be fighting, and it had a large screen on the opposite wall.

"Welcome, students. I am Professor Glynda Goodwitch. In my class, you will be learning to fight against human opponents," Professor Goodwitch started. "This class will be fairly straightforward, and mostly physical. I will tolerate no tomfoolery, as it could lead to serious injury. You will be fighting after all, with your real weapons. Look up here at this screen," the professor continued, pointing up behind her. There, her face and name appeared alongside a green bar that looked like a health bar from a video game.

"This screen will show everyone your aura levels, monitored by your scrolls. Should anyone lack a scroll, Beacon will provide one at no cost to you. There are three levels to this bar: green, yellow, and red. When your bar reaches red, your fight _will_ stop." Here Professor Goodwitch snapped her whip at them, making no small amount of them jump. "After all, if your aura levels reach zero, there is a very real chance of serious injury."

Despite her rather harsh words, no one there seemed at all frightened at the prospect of being injured except for Jaune himself, who rubbed his shoulder and wondered if he would be one of the ones inflicted with a serious injury. He was probably the weakest one there after all. The professor went on like this for a good portion of the class period, explaining various rules and tournament regulations that made Jaune's head spin trying to keep up with them all. His team, especially Pyrrha, seemed quite excited. He spied Ruby bouncing on her seat, eager to get a chance to fight, even though she surely had to find the professor's lecture as boring as he did.

Speaking of Ruby, his eyes sought out Weiss, who had missed lunch, and found her sitting with her team, leaving him with a bit of relief. She seemed much calmer than she had when she stormed out of Professor Port's class, or when she was slightly fuming during Doctor Oobleck's.

Professor Goodwitch finally finished and took a look at the clock. "Well, we have time for one fight today. Let's see, who shall go…" She looked around, and Jaune immediately avoided her eyes, not half as eager to fight as Ruby had just seemed. These people were all trained at a combat school, and he was just some kid that faked his way in. He probably wasn't half as strong as the rest of them, trained heroes, unlike him.

Jaune had done relatively well against the Deathstalker, but that was probably thanks to his semblance and teamwork. What use did a semblance that inspired allies have in a one on one fight? His hopes at avoiding a fight that day were immediately dashed however. "Jaune Arc. And, Cardin Winchester."

Jaune looked around nervously, trying to find his opponent, and then felt nauseous when he saw him stand up. Cardin Winchester was a large, muscular boy with short burnt orange hair that he recognized from initiation. He was the leader of Team CRDL. Cardin saw Jaune looking and smiled mockingly at him. Jaune stood and gulped.

"You'll be just fine, Jaune. Just fight like you did in initiation against that Deathstalker and you will have nothing to fear," Pyrrha reassured him, seeing his nervousness.

"Yeah, Jauney! Don't worry, you totally got this!" Nora chipped in, giving him a thumbs up.

Over on the side, he could see Ruby also waving her arms at him, smiling widely and making Weiss frown at her. Jaune laughed a bit and smiled as cheerfully as he could at all of them.

"Yeah, I got this guys. _No worries_." Jaune's voice turned slightly shrilly at the end of his sentence, and he was sure no one believed him.

Making his way to the locker room in the back of the classroom to put his armor on and grab Crocea Mors, he could feel his legs shake a bit and tried to calm his beating heart, which was slowly starting to pump harder and faster.

 _Come on, I can do this. Who cares how big and scary and strong Cardin seems?_ Jaune tried to pump himself up, pulling his armor on above his Pumpkin Pete sweater. _I fought that Deathstalker after all, how hard can it be to fight another person? Even if he is probably stronger than me?_

Cardin finished before Jaune and made sure to push him with his shoulder a bit on his way out of the classroom. "Let's have a _good_ fight, Jauney-Boy," Cardin told him on his way out, a smile on his face that made Jaune shiver.

Strapping his last buckle on tightly, Jaune calmed himself as much as he could while he headed towards the stage. _Maybe I should call it a battlefield instead_. Jaune laughed nervously to himself. _Cardin's gonna be trying his hardest to hurt me after all, just like a real battle._

Professor Goodwitch was standing at the center of the stage with Cardin. "Okay boys, ready yourselves and remember the rules. In one, two, three, fight!"

Jaune unsheathed his blade and shifted his shield into place. At the corner of his eye, he could make out the green bars that indicated his and Cardin's aura levels. Out on the stands, he could hear JNPR and part of RWBY cheering him on.

"Go Jauney, you've got this!"

"Yeah Jaune, go get him!"

"Fight well, Jaune!"

Jaune nodded to them and smiled, grateful at their well wishes. Cardin only smiled mockingly at him, his own team similarly cheering him on. Cardin's weapon was a large mace that he readied in front of him, with only a single hand. Jaune would only barely be able to lift it with both hands, he thought in slight despair.

Slowly, they both advanced to the center of the stage, and Cardin was the first to strike. Yelping, Jaune hurriedly ducked and promptly slipped, falling on his face. The only reason Cardin didn't take advantage of his fall was because he had started chuckling. He thought he could even hear someone groaning out in the stands, but wasn't sure because of the blood pumping in his ears.

The crowd jeered at him, and face a little red, Jaune rolled back and stood, somewhat unsteadily. He tried to take the initiative, but was quickly repelled. What followed was a series of blows from Cardin that filled his ears with the sound of metal clashing, as he desperately blocked each attack on his shield. Cardin at least didn't hit as hard as the Deathstalker had, but his arm still ached with every blow, and Jaune was soon starting to breath harshly, unable to do anything but block and stand his ground.

Jaune's ears were ringing with the sound of clashing metal and distracted him, leading to him taking one particularly strong blow on his chest armor, making him wheeze and almost drop to his knees.

"Is that all you've got, Arc? Are you just a little weakling?" taunted Cardin at him, his blows starting to come in slightly faster and harder. Jaune didn't respond and strafed back, trying to catch his breath, but Cardin immediately followed him and left him with no time to rest.

 _I don't know if I can do this,_ Jaune thought faintly, getting more and more tired. _I thought I was every bit the hero everyone else is, but am I really?_

Jaune was able to sneak a look at the giant screen during a small lull in Cardin's attacks, and was surprised to note that despite the aching and burning in his arm, and his own harsh breath, his aura was only just about to hit the yellow; his aura was still in the green, even after the hit in the chest he had taken. Cardin's aura had only taken one small hit, but the sight emboldened Jaune a little. After all, this was a huntsman in training that had gone to combat school. Someone with experience, probably stronger than him, who had come to be a hero, like him. To have kept up this long with him… It was a surprisingly good feeling.

Cardin followed Jaune's gaze and frowned, the first time the smile on his face had dropped. _He's not doing as well as he had hoped!_ Thought Jaune in elation.

Taking one deep breath, Jaune caught steadied himself during a short lull in Cardin's attacks, and the next time Cardin's mace hit his shield, he threw him back with every bit of strength he could muster up. Cardin stumbled and lost his rhythm, eyes wide and face no longer smiling.

Jaune immediately followed through, and he was the one that took the aggressive side this time, sword repeatedly coming down on Cardin's mace. Face now set in a scowl, deep with concentration, Cardin tried to take the lead again but didn't have the room to move his mace properly with how close Jaune was to him. It was one of the small drawbacks of a longer weapon.

 _Clang. Clang. Clang._

The sound of metal hitting metal filled Jaune's ears, the ringing in them growing, but now comforting instead of distracting. It was the sound of warriors clashing, not of a fake being pushed back. Jaune started to glow, and the classroom grew silent, save for a few gasps of wonder.

Not able to do anything more than block Jaune's sword on the shaft of his mace, Cardin desperately tried to bring the butt of his mace up to hit him in the face, but Jaune took immediate advantage and hit Cardin in the stomach with his shield. Cardin fell to his knees and wheezed for breath.

Jaune ignored everything around him, the sound, the burning in his arms, the breath leaving his mouth in gasps, and completely focused on his opponent now that he was down. He focused so hard he couldn't think of anything but of winning. Cardin scrambled to get up, but he didn't let up like Cardin had at the start of the fight. He knew that he needed to take every advantage he could get, because he wasn't as strong as his opponent.

Jaune kicked Cardin's mace away and slashed at him with abandon, forcing him to bring his arms up to guard his face, until with a yell Jaune's legs were kicked out under him. _No, not yet, I'm not done yet!_ Jaune fervently told himself, getting up despite the pain across his entire body. A memory came to him then, of Pyrrha spinning around the Deathstalker's claws during initiation.

With a loud grunt, launched himself forward as hard as he could in a brilliant swirl of golden flurries and spun, his sword hitting Cardin's chest with all the momentum of his sprint and spin. A golden explosion ripped into Cardin's armor, denting it and sending him flying back.

 _That's it,_ Jaune gasped, falling on his back and laying his arms out, completely spent. _I can't do anymore._

When the ringing and pounding in his ears finally died down, the sound that met his ears was not the one he was expecting however. Wide cheers met his ears, and he could hear his team hollering at him, and Ruby annoying Weiss. Groaning and turning his sore neck up and to the side, Jaune's eyes widened, and his breath caught. Jaune's aura was in still in the yellow, a mere sliver away from the red, but Cardin's was completely gone, empty.

Jaune laughed. He laughed until he couldn't let out as much as a short gasp. It was the only thing he could do, as completely in disbelief as he was. He had won. Inexplicably, he was the winner, he, the untrained faker. He had beat Cardin. His teammates soon came running down to help him up, but Jaune could do nothing more than smile at their worried faces, as his tired vision slowly turned to black.

"Pyrrha, give him mouth to mouth, he's leaving us!"

-Knight's Rise I: End-

 **AN: And that's that. I'm not sure I have much else to say. I'm going to try to get the next chapter out in a week, but assume erratic updates just in case. As far as pairings go, you'll see, but I will say it's gonna be either Pyrrha or Weiss. Who, you'll just have to wait and see, but it's probably a long while yet for that.**

 **Jaune's semblance is far from being completely uncovered, you've not seen all of it yet. It should easy enough for one or two people to guess what it is by this point I think, but Jaune will find out soon enough, I think.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this. 'Till next time.**


	2. Knight's Rise II

**AN: Looks like we've received relatively good reception so far. I'm glad those of you reading seem to be enjoying the story so far. This chapter's a bit shorter, because I ended where I felt was most appropriate. Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Responses for guest reviews and reviews with good questions I feel need answering are at the bottom.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, and I have no funny jokes to post here. Boo x 2.**

The Knight's Rise II

"I admit I was wrong about Mr. Arc, Professor Ozpin."

At the top of Beacon's tallest tower was Headmaster Ozpin's office, large and mostly unadorned by personal effects, but not by any means bare or Spartan. There was a large window behind Ozpin's desk, allowing him to simply turn back to check on his school, and there were large turning gears all around, giving the impression of being inside a clock tower. They were inside the floor through clear reinforced glass, and even inside of his desk. The office spoke greatly of Professor Ozpin's peculiar and unique mind.

Professor Goodwitch was currently giving her daily report on the first-year students, which she did at the beginning of every year. "I had him and Mr. Cardin Winchester fight today, and while he is clumsy, clearly mostly self-trained, and somewhat lacking in confidence, he has surprisingly good instinct. His semblance is interesting as well." Goodwitch took a tablet scroll out of her pocket and replayed the fight for Ozpin, who simply hummed at the end.

"He has potential," Ozpin stated, taking a drink of his mug of coffee. "I'm glad you gave him a chance."

"Yes, well, he's going to need a good bit of training to catch up to the rest of his team, but Mr. Winchester is hardly the weakest of this year's recruits," Goodwitch told him, turning the scroll around and pausing at the moment Jaune had started to glow. "His semblance has a mental aspect to it as well. When I saw it, well, certain good memories of my old team came to my mind." Glynda's normally very serious face gained a small and nostalgic smile. "I can see why you made him a team leader as well. You were right, as always."

Ozpin chuckled softly. "Oh Glynda, I'm hardly always correct. I've made more mistakes than any man alive." Ozpin sipped his mug, eyes straying upwards. Glynda stayed silent, she had heard this line before, but she had never agreed with him on it. "I simply saw something inside of him, something like I saw in young Miss Rose, and even Mister Winchester as well. A certain, spark, if you will.

"Moving past that, it's not often I hear you speak of your old team. He must have made an impression on you, to make you reminisce about them," Professor Ozpin told her gently, a soft and slightly sorrowful smile on his face.

"Yes… Looking at his aura, it made me feel as though memories of them didn't hurt as much as they used to," Professor Goodwitch said softly. She quickly composed herself and started to change the subject. "Well, moving on from that and onto happier subjects, Peter tells me that Ms. Schnee came to him for advice earlier today. I believe she and her team might make up soon," Goodwitch announced happily. Ozpin nodded and sipped his mug, unsurprised.

"I had not expected their little feud to last for too long. Miss Schnee appears to me, to be quite different from her father, her mind much more open," Ozpin gave voice to his thoughts. "I had almost made _her_ the leader of Team RWBY, truth be told, but I felt she wasn't quite ready for it. I'm sure she will grow more and more in the days to come."

"That's good. We need more people like them, for the things that are to come," Goodwitch whispered.

"I do not quite deny that, but they are still children, Glynda, with three years left before they graduate from this academy," Ozpin told her seriously. "Let's not think of such things right now. Hopefully, there is still plenty of time for them to enjoy their school years before the coming conflict unfolds. I and my other colleagues at Haven, Shade, and Atlas have been keeping in greater correspondence lately. Professor Lionheart at Haven has been especially receptive to me, so I hope we will be able to rally together before it all begins."

"Let us hope you're right, Ozpin."

-A wild line break appears!-

The first thing that Jaune felt when he awoke was soft sheets, even better than the ones they had been provided with for their dorm room. He was still in the clothes he had fought Cardin with, minus his armor and weapon. He was blinded by strong fluorescent lights as soon as he opened his eyes and had to take a moment to close them. _Don't recognize this ceiling,_ was Jaune's only thought.

Taking a moment to feel his body for any injury, Jaune was pleasantly surprised to find it in good condition. He didn't feel more than a slight soreness in his muscles, but there wasn't even a bruise on his chest where Cardin had smashed him with his mace. That forcefield power was some really good stuff.

"Jaune, are you awake?" asked a familiar voice to his side. Jaune sat up and gave his partner Pyrrha a nod, took a look around and realized he was in what must be one of Beacon's infirmaries. The only people present were himself and his three team members, not even a nurse or doctor were around.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Fearless Leader!" Nora welcomed him back cheerfully. "You've been out for a whole week you know?"

Jaune almost fell off the bed with alarm. "What?! Are you serious?!" An entire week?! Just what had he missed? Classes, homework… Had Weiss forgotten he existed after not seeing him for a whole week?!

"Nora!" Ren scolded her harshly, but she just stuck her tongue out at him. "You've only been out for an hour, Jaune. People don't just fall unconscious for an entire week."

Jaune felt his eyes get moist with relief. "Nora, please try and not give a guy a heart attack as soon as he gets up. And Pyrrha, stop laughing!" Pyrrha was shaking with laughter, eyes full of mirth.

"I'm sorry!" she apologized, in a certain tone of voice that Jaune was starting to suspect meant she wasn't actually sorry at all. He narrowed his eyes at her, but she only shook harder, to his dismay. "Come now, Jaune, you'd get brain damage if you were unconscious for so long! This isn't a movie," she tried to explain to him, a giggle escaping from her mouth. His face turned a little red, but he only looked away with a huff.

Soon his entire team was laughing. It really wasn't so funny, but Jaune couldn't help but join in with them after a second. He had to admit, he hadn't known that, he must watch more action movies than he thought. Soon they had laughed their fill and the room fell into a comfortable silence.

"You guys are all jerks," Jaune chuckled. "So, what happened anyway? I remember that I won at least, but what happened after that? At least it was the last class of the day, too," He took a moment to remember the end of the fight, blasting Cardin off and Cardin's aura falling to zero and suddenly felt worried. "Cardin's aura was completely spent wasn't it? Is he okay? I don't see him here," Jaune said, looking around.

"Cardin's fine," Pyrrha assured him. "His armor was dented and he wasn't very happy, but he didn't fall unconscious like you, he was just dazed. Aura, even when spent to zero, typically prevents things like that, unless you're caught unawares or receive a truly debilitating blow. The nurse said you were unconscious due to stress from overuse of your semblance."

Ren nodded beside her, fighting off Nora's hands trying to poke at him in revenge for ruining her joke. "Yeah, your semblance evolved a little in your fight with Cardin, from what I remember of how you fought against the Deathstalker in initiation. It's not unusual to become exhausted from that."

"Yeah, you should've seen yourself, Jaune!" Nora happily continued. "You started that warm and fuzzy glow again, and then you blasted off like you had rockets in your feet! Cardin was all like 'Noooooo!' and you were all like 'I will defeat you, evil doer!' and then-"

"That's enough of that, Nora," Ren tried to pacify her. Nora stuck her tongue out at him again and resumed her attempted revenge.

Jaune laughed at her cheerfulness. Nora really was one of a kind. "Semblances can evolve?" he asked, thinking hard about any differences he had felt earlier to his battle in initiation.

Nodding, Pyrrha started to explain. "Yes. Semblances can be trained to be stronger for starters, like a muscle. The more you use it, the more it grows. And like in your fight with Cardin, sometimes you may discover new aspects of it, or new ways to use it."

Jaune nodded and grew curious. "You sure know a lot about this kind of thing, Pyrrha. You unlocked my aura, too, just what is your semblance?"

Pyrrha winked at him and let her lips just tilt upwards. "Now that would be telling. You'll see soon enough, I'm sure." Jaune pouted and tried to prod her into telling him to no avail. Nora joined in, too, equally curious, and soon everyone was messing around and laughing together.

"Oh good, you guys are still here."

Turning his head, the new voice had come from a blonde male in nurse scrubs with a large tablet scroll in his hands. "Sorry I wasn't here when you woke up, I was telling Glynda, Professor Goodwitch that is, how you're doing. Which is fine, by the way." The nurse looked down at his scroll.

"Your armor is being fixed up in the armory, should be done before your next class with Goodwitch. It took a nice beating in your fight, had a bunch of wide gashes too, from initiation I guess," the nurse continued, scrolling down. "Oh, that's free by the way," the nurse assured him, seeing Jaune's eyes widen and his mouth open. "Things like fixing up your armor and providing parts for your weapons, standard rounds of ammunition, mission supplies, that's all provided by Beacon at no cost. There's a reason why we're the best in the Kingdom of Vale!" the nurse winked at him.

"Oh, that's cool. Really generous, too, since tuition and everything's free as well," Jaune thought out loud, throwing the blonde a questioning glance. The rest of his team seemed curious as well.

"Well yeah, this is a combat school, one of the four best in the world. Huntsmen are the defenders of mankind after all, so the Vale council provides as much funds as the school needs," the nurse stated matter-of-factly. "Anyway, you're not injured or anything, so you're free to go whenever you want. You can check when your armor'll be done over in the armory, and your weapon should be in your dorm. Try not to get in here too often, huh?" the nurse waved and left them be.

"Well, I suppose we should get back to our dorm then, our homework's waiting," said Pyrrha, holding a hand out for Jaune to get up.

"Damn it, I almost forgot about that."

-A wild line break appears!-

The next week passed much more smoothly than their first day, and soon it was already the weekend. Professor Goodwitch had not made Jaune fight again, going through the rest of the class to see everyone fight at least once, which was lucky for him as his armor would not be fully repaired until that very day. The rest of his classes, however…

Jaune let his head fall onto his notebook and groaned. He and his team were at their dorm on a calm Saturday noon, but had unanimously decided to finish their work before going out to enjoy their weekend. There was nothing wrong with that really, but Jaune had never had such challenging schoolwork before. Being from a small village beyond the Kingdom of Vale, the education standards must have been lower than that expected of people from inside the Kingdom.

Or maybe he was just dumb. Jaune wasn't sure which would be better.

"Everything alright, Jaune?" Ren queried from his bed, looking up from his own notebook. Pyrrha looked up as well, almost finished with her own work. Nora was trying to sneakily take a nap.

"Yeah, everything's fine, it's just, I'm not used to all this bookwork you know?" Jaune waved his hand above his head.

Ren nodded sympathetically. "That's right, you worked and such back at home and didn't have much time for studying."

"Well, how about a bit of a break?" Pyrrha suggested, closing her things. "It's already noon in any case, we would have headed up to lunch soon. We've all been working hard; we could use it."

Everyone vocally agreed and started to put their things away, Nora especially letting out a large groan of exhaustion as soon as Ren shook her awake. "Aren't I usually the one doing the sleeping?" he asked her wrily. Nora just grinned at him unashamedly.

"You know, my armor should be just about done by now," Jaune recalled, looking for a note in one of his folders. "Yeah, says noon today. I should get over to the armory and pick it up."

"Oh, I'll join you," Pyrrha perked up. "I've been meaning to go check it out, and to grab some parts to do maintenance on Milo, too."

"Alright, sounds like a plan," Jaune said, looking towards Ren and Nora. "You guys want to join us?"

"No, I think Nora and I will head to lunch first. We'll save you some seats," Ren nodded at Nora, who was groaning and holding her stomach pitifully at him. Jaune laughed into his hand and nodded back.

"Alright, we shouldn't be too long. Off we go, Pyrrha."

"The armory is this way, Jaune," Pyrrha giggled, pointing him the opposite direction he had started walking. Jaune's face turned red.

"I knew that," Jaune grumbled, trying to ignore Pyrrha's teasing.

Beacon's armory was large, like the rest of its facilities, with a variety of workshops for students to work on their weapons themselves. It was necessary, as many huntsmen weapons were complex and built by their wielders. There were no windows, as there was a risk of them being blown out by misfired weapons or accidents, but the ceiling was a dome made of reinforced glass that shined light down on the room and gave a nice view of some of the flying birds Beacon was home to.

There were a few workers who walked around checking to make sure no one was doing something they shouldn't, and a couple of people at a counter across from the entrance that Pyrrha and Jaune walked in through. Before they could grab someone and ask where to go however, a familiar voice called out to them.

"Oh my god, Jaune and Pyrrha, over here, over here!" yelled Ruby Rose, her beloved scythe opened to its insides on a table in front of her. People near her that weren't working on anything delicate shot her annoyed glances that made her blush deeply and bow several times to apologize. Trying not to laugh, they walked over, giving their own small apologies to the people near them.

"Hi, Jaune, hi Pyrrha," Ruby greeted them, her voice now down to a whisper.

"I don't think you need to whisper like that Ruby," Jaune told her. "Just, probably try not to yell like that again." Ruby nodded embarrassedly.

"Anyway, I guess it figures you'd be here, I remember how you showed me Crescent Rose our first day," Jaune said, hand coming up to grab his chin.

Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I'm kinda a weapon nut. Wherever you can find things like that, I'll be there!"

"Maybe we should exchange tips sometime then," Pyrrha suggested. "I built my weapons myself as well, we may have insights to give each other."

"That would be amazing!" Ruby gushed, though careful to keep her voice at a reasonable level. "I've wanted to check out that Milo of yours since I first saw it, three different weapon shifts and it's so small and compact! I must know what kind of things you've done to it."

"It's great you guys are getting a long so well, but we really should get a move on if we want to meet Ren and Nora for lunch, Pyrrha," Jaune cut them off before they could get lost in their own world. Ruby perked up a bit.

"Oh yeah, what are you two here for anyway?" Ruby asked. They explained about the armor and maintenance parts and she nodded.

"Oh yeah, you'll want those guys over there," Ruby informed them, pointing at the counter. "The woman is one of the blacksmiths here and probably has your armor, Jaune, and the guy is the one for parts and things, Pyrrha."

"Alright, sounds good, thanks, Ruby," Jaune said, looking towards the counter. "By the way, would you and your team want to join us for lunch once we're done? Unless you're busy, of course."

Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Sure, sounds like a date! I mean, no, not a date, but I mean, like the expression date!" Ruby agreed and then rapidly corrected herself, looking panicked. Before Jaune could say a word she continued, looking red and making Pyrrha beside him shake. "I mean, it's not like I wouldn't go on a date with you, you're a cool guy and all Jaune, but a relationship, I mean we just met a week ago and my sister would kill you and if things go badly we have years left at Beacon and you're a really good friend-"

"That's enough, Ruby, we understand!" laughed Pyrrha, eyes filled with mirth. Jaune was just looking confused and scratching his head, but grinned when Ruby looked and nodded affirmatively.

"Right, of course you understand, I mean… Yeah. I'll just, you know, text my team and tell them to join us. Just leave me be," she told them, hiding her face. Pyrrha was still shaking with laughter when they walked away and assured Jaune that Ruby was fine when he looked to her.

"She just got confused for a second I'm sure," Pyrrha reassured him, turning him away when he made like he was thinking to go back and check on Ruby. Jaune was still confused but agreed.

The woman Jaune went to was looking through a large desktop scroll, typing rapidly so that he could barely see her fingers move. Her black hair was pulled into a messy bun, and she was clothed in a rather unflattering dirty blue jumpsuit. She looked up at his approach and grunted a greeting at him. Unperturbed, he gave her the note the nurse at the infirmary had given him a week prior and explained what he was there to pick.

"Ah, that thing?" she finally talked, giving him a look that made him shift uncomfortably. "Got a bit of a surprise for ya," she told him, and went off through a door to the back of the counter. Jaune gulped and hoped it was a good surprise.

When the woman came back, she was holding a piece of armor that was familiar but not his armor. She placed it on the counter and waited, making Jaune blink and look back and forth between her and the armor twice. Seeing her looking at him expectantly, he hesitantly grabbed and inspected the armor.

The first thing he noticed was that it was heavier, but that not by any means was it heavy armor. That was probably due in part to how the chest piece came down to his lower abdomen now, and looked as though it would cover every part of his chest, abdomen and sides. The shoulder pauldrons had gotten an extra plate each, and now covered more of his shoulders, almost connecting to his chest piece.

"Well try it on," the woman told him impatiently. Having many questions but being waved at impatiently, Jaune quietly acquiesced. The armor fit him snuggly, better than before in fact. There was enough room for him to twist and turn comfortably, and his arms retained their full range of motion despite his pauldrons almost reaching his chest piece, not once scraping against each other. The extra weight was distributed against his body evenly and didn't feel at all like it would slow him down.

The woman examined him thoroughly, making Jaune feel slightly self-conscious, and nodded in satisfaction. "Your old armor was kinda crap," she told him bluntly, making him lean back in surprise. "I melted it down and added some better metal, reforged it into the same shape and shit as before, but better, as you can see." She waved at the armor he had put on.

"I mean," Jaune began uncertainly. "It was kind of all I could afford. My family isn't the wealthiest or anything, and…" he trailed off as the woman nodded, face set in sympathy.

"Yeah, that's not surprising, I've met tons of brats with the same kinda issue as you," she told him. "But Beacon takes care of its own, ya hear? We can't really make an entire set of good armor for you, but we can at least do this much."

"Wow," Jaune said, looking down at his new armor in greater appreciation. "That's, thank you so much. I don't know what to say, Miss…"

"Oh damn, where are my manners," she slapped her forehead. "I'm Luna, Luna Blackford, one of Beacon's blacksmiths. Nice to meetcha!" she introduced herself, holding his hand out for him to shake.

"Jaune Arc," he introduced himself in return, grabbing her hand and having to hold in a gasp. Her grip was incredibly strong. "Nice to meet you, too," he managed, resisting the urge to rub his hand.

"Ready to go, Jaune?" came Pyrrha's voice. She seemed as though she was finished, and had a small wrapped package in her hands.

"Wow, what happened to your armor?" Pyrrha asked, fingers reaching out to feel his reforged armor.

"Oh, um, L-Luna here, she reforged it for me, yeah. Lots of damage, and it wasn't the best from the start you know?" Jaune stammered out, cheeks turning a faint shade of red.

"Well it seems to me as though she did a good job. This is much better than your old armor," Pyrrha said, retracting her hand and making Jaune let out a faint sound of relief.

 _Don't think she noticed,_ Jaune thought in relief. _Come on, she didn't even really grab you, just your armor. Let's not do anything that awkward again._

"W-Well, anyway, just give me a sec to say thanks aga- Aaaand she's back to work," Jaune cut himself off. Luna was already back to rapidly typing on her desktop scroll. Shrugging, he gave her one more whispered thanks, to which she only give a split-second wave of farewell, and they went to grab Ruby and head off to lunch.

-A wild line break appears!-

"The lunch here really is varied," Jaune thought aloud, finishing up his plate of a Mistralean dish that Pyrrha had recommended to him. The lunchroom wasn't as packed as it normally was, most likely due to it being the weekend. Older students especially were probably out in Vale proper.

"Yeah, the grub here is pretty good for a school. Signal had decent food, too, but nothing like this," Yang said, turning her head from a conversation she was having with Pyrrha.

"Did you like the food I recommended, Jaune? It's very common where I'm from," Pyrrha asked, smiling.

"Yeah, it was pretty good, really different from the kind of stuff we eat back home," Jaune told her. A few people over Weiss sighed and finished her own meal, the same that Jaune had eaten. A thoughtful expression came over his face for a moment, before he put on his best flirty smile and turned to her. "Do you happen to like Mistralean food, Weiss? Maybe tomorrow we can go check one out in Vale?"

"No thanks, Arc, maybe next time," Weiss said, not so much as turning. Nora started to 'Oooh,' and Pyrrha glared fiercely at Weiss when Jaune slumped down in his seat.

"Damn, rejected!" yelled Yang. "You're a real heartbreaker, huh, Weiss-cream?"

Ruby and Nora both snorted and looked away, whistling, when Weiss turned her eyes to them. "And who said I had given you permission to call me that Xiao Long?" Weiss demanded.

"Oh, I dunno," Yang grinned. "But don't you think you were just a little _cold_? Jaune's heart isn't made out of _Weiss_ you know."

Ruby and Nora burst out laughing while Weiss groaned and decided to just ignore her. Pyrrha giggled a little but decided to try and change the subject when Jaune didn't perk up. "Anyway, Jaune," Pyrrha started. "You were having trouble with your work earlier, right? Why don't we try studying together some time? They say that two minds work better than one."

"Oh, a study group? That sounds like a marvelous idea, Pyrrha!" Weiss said excitedly, her attention completely caught. Ruby gagged near her, but Weiss ignored her with all the expertise of someone who had been living with her for an entire week.

"Um, I wasn't particularly referring to a large study group, Weiss, I was thinking-"

"Ruby here actually skipped doing her homework this morning and wandered off to the armory to play with her scythe. Can you believe it?" Weiss continued, oblivious to Pyrrha. "She promised me earlier this week that she would try harder, then skips off as soon as the weekend starts!"

"She's kinda got you there sis," Yang snickered. Ruby shot her an extremely betrayed look.

"Um, again, I was kind of intending for it to be only me and-"

"It's not a bad idea really," Ren talked for the first time during their lunch break. "Nora has plenty of intelligence, but has a hard time focusing. With the both of our times working together, I bet she would need to focus."

"Ren!" Nora was shocked.

"It's decided then!" Weiss clapped her hands together. Ruby groaned and slapped her face down on the table. Yang patted her on the back sympathetically, and Blake continued to read, showing no objections. Pyrrha slumped down next to Jaune, defeated, while Nora had a look of horror on her face.

-A wild line break appears!-

"We've now gone through the entire class, and I have made a note of all of your skill levels. Up to this point, I have been confirming what I saw during your initiation, but today, we will begin slightly randomized matches with opponents fitting your abilities."

Jaune was nervous, but determined. _I've already proven myself a couple of times, and I even have new, stronger armor. This is just a spar; I can do this_.

Professor Goodwitch had told the class to come in armor rather than uniform today, and everyone there was sitting and waiting in anticipation. The professor slowly looked at all of their faces and decided. "Lie Ren and… Jaune Arc. Please come down to the stage."

Starting, the two looked at each other in surprise, but Ren smiled a little and nodded at Jaune while they both went walked down. "Let's fight well, Jaune."

 _What luck!_ Jaune thought, while he patted Ren on the back in confirmation. _Ren's strong, but I think I can take him, and I know he isn't going to be trying to really hurt me like Cardin_.

"Are you both ready?" Professor Goodwitch asked, moving off the arena. Both of them nodded, faces now drawn tighter. Up in the stands Nora was cheering, a flag with Ren's name on it waving in her hand, while Pyrrha looked indecisive on who she should be supporting.

"Then, in one, two, three, fight!"

Ren immediately shot the side and started circling Jaune, Stormflower shooting and leaving him with no time to react. Jaune yelped and took a few hits before he was able to fumble his shield up to protect his face, but his new armor protected him without getting a scratch.

Feeling a little more confident, Jaune got his shield up and charged towards Ren, who stopped firing and twirled out of the way, kicking his shield up on the way. Eyes wide, body wide open and trying to move backwards, Ren continued his motion and swept his feet out from under him. Jaune landed with a grunt and was barely able to move out of the way as Stormflower left a wide scratch on the floor that would have surely hurt a lot.

"You got him, Ren, get him, get him!" Nora cheered from the stands. Pyrrha was looking slightly worried and leaned forward. Jaune had no time to look up and see this however, rolling away from Ren.

 _Not good, not good!_ Jaune tried to get up but gasped and let himself fall downwards as a green blade swept where his head had just been. Unlike Cardin, Ren showed no mercy simply because his opponent was on the ground. Jaune swept his shield against the small green gunblades and tried to follow up with a wide arc of his long blade, but Ren simply flipped backwards, his guns firing mid-jump on Jaune's unprotected face.

"What are you, an acrobat?!" Jaune gasped out, face burning with pain, finally managing to get up and circling Ren cautiously. Ren shrugged, no emotion on his face, and came charging forward once more. Slightly more ready this time, Jaune managed to swing his sword a few times, but Ren proved remarkably agile, dodging every strike and placing several glancing scratches on Jaune's unprotected arms.

Finally, Jaune grew frustrated and kicked Ren in the stomach as he dodged under another of his sword swipes. Ren tumbled back, but immediately regained his footing, arms crossed and ready for a counter-attack that did not come as Jaune's breath started to come out in gasps. _This would be a really good time for my semblance to activate!_ Jaune thought desperately, trying to remember what had triggered it in his last two big fights, but started to feel horror as he realized that he had no idea.

Ren gave him no time to stop and think, jumping above him and shooting at his head in a mid-air spin. Jaune was able to get his shield up in time and spun to slash at Ren when he landed, but Ren ducked the moment he landed, head going down and sword just missing his face as he grabbed Jaune's arm and used his own momentum against him, slamming him on the ground behind him. Rolling out of the way, Jaune's breath left him and he choked as Stormflower hit him in the back of his neck.

Vision swimming, Ren slammed his head down with his foot and ended the match as a sharp bell whistled.

"That's enough you two," Professor Goodwitch ordered. Ren nodded and offered his hand down at Jaune, who whimpered a little as he got up, rubbing his head. Looking up at the screen, his heart fell, as Ren still had the majority of his aura left. _I barely got a hit on him…_

"The winner is Lie Ren. Mr. Lie, good work. The only advice I have for you is to be aware of every part of your opponent, not just his weapon; you would have avoided any hits at all had you not ignored Mr. Arc's legs," Professor Goodwitch advised, receiving a nod. She let Ren go back up to the stands and then looked at Jaune for a moment, making him squirm and wince a bit, his body sore.

"Mr. Arc, I hope you've gotten much out of this fight. You're strong, but you lack discipline, and your skill shows further need of heavy training. You did not take advantage of your opponent's situational awareness until near the end of the fight, I hope that will not happen again." The professor clearly had a lot more advice to offer Jaune than Ren, and Jaune felt his face redden in embarrassment as Cardin snickered loudly up in the stands. Professor Goodwitch ignored Cardin and continued. "And, while I do not recommend overly relying on your semblance, you failed to use it at all during this fight. Semblance is a strong weapon Mr. Arc, possibly one of the strongest in any huntsmen's arsenal that has one. Use it, do not underestimate your opponent next time. I expect much improvement in your next fight if you take my words to heed, Mr. Arc. Up you go."

Jaune nodded, face red, and felt as if he were running when he went up the stairs as fast as he could. Ren nodded at him sympathetically, but Jaune smiled at him in return, not blaming him.

"That was fantastic, Renny! You just didn't let up, you went 'Bang, bang, bang!' and Jaune went all 'Aargh!' You totally kicked his-" Nora suddenly cut herself off and shuffled her feet guiltily as she saw Jaune approach. He just laghed and patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't feel bad, Nora, you're totally right. Ren really kicked my butt," Jaune told her, feeling sore and a little upset, but not at either of them. "Good fight, Ren, no hard feelings." Jaune held his hand up for Ren to shake, which he did firmly and happily.

"The next fight will be between Russel Thrush and…"

"Don't worry, Jaune, you did fine. Why didn't you use your semblance though?" Pyrrha asked him, squeezing his shoulder as he sat down, the both of them watching as one of Cardin's teammates and another student neither of them were familiar with.

"Well, to be honest, I have no clue how to use it," Jaune shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. Pyrrha looked a little surprised at his words, and Ren turned as well.

"That's interesting, semblances are usually instinctual," Ren piped in. Nora was ignoring the three of them, attention completely caught by the start of the next fight. Pyrrha nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I remember having no trouble with my own. It got stronger and evolved a little through training, of course, but I never had any trouble activating it…" Pyrrha agreed, slightly troubled for Jaune now. Jaune's face fell.

"Sometimes there's a bit more to them though," a new voice chirped in from the seats above them. Yang had overheard and turned her head from the fight below, uninterested.

"Oh," Jaune said eagerly. "How do you mean?"

"Well take mine for example, you've seen it, right? My hair catches on fire, my eyes get red and all?" Yang said, jumping a seat down next to Pyrrha. Ruby turned down, wondering what was going on, her attention having been caught by the fight like Nora, though she had been more interested in the fighters' weapons.

"Whatcha guys talking about?" asked Ruby, jumping down beside Jaune, red cape fluttering.

"Yang was about to tell us about her semblance. You see…" Pyrrha explained to Ruby how Jaune didn't know how to activate his semblance. Ruby let out an 'oh' and nodded, now interested.

"Yeah, my semblance is a combination of speed and momentum control and it was pretty instinctual, but I remember Yang having trouble figuring hers out," Ruby explained, her expression turned up and trying to remember.

"It activated basically every fight, see, but I had no idea how it worked or anything," Yang continued. "Eventually I had this one fight where it just didn't activate at all, and I got so angry my hair caught on fire. I found out its activation had to do with how angry I got, and how much damage I received."

"The more punishment she gets, the harder she dishes it out, in her own words," Ruby finished for Yang. Jaune nodded thoughtfully, but their explanation still brought nothing to mind.

"Is there something you thought about in particular when you've had your semblance activate?" Pyrrha asked, trying to think of something herself, mind turning over their fight initiation and what she had seen in his fight with Cardin. Jaune shook his head and sighed in defeat.

"Don't worry about it too much Vomit Boy, it took me a few fights to finally figure it out, and you've only had your semblance for a bit more than a week, right?" Yang told him, voice teasing. Jaune huffed at the nickname, but nodded.

"I know, I know, it's just, I didn't put up too much of a fight today, did I?" Jaune said, shoulders slumped.

"Eh, I think you did okay, considering how differently Ren and you fight," Yang said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yes, Jaune, I think if you had fought someone else that isn't as agile as me you would have done better," Ren agreed, rubbing his stomach where Jaune had kicked him. "You kicked me in the stomach once and I can still feel it, you're quite physically capable."

"You just gotta get used to fast guys like me and Ren," Ruby chirped in, turning her head away as the fight ended. "You know, you're more of a tank, you just gotta train a bit more and you'll be able to deal eventually."

"The winner is Russel Thrush. Mr. Thrush…"

Jaune looked unconvinced, but nodded anyway, turning down as Professor Goodwitch gave her advice to Russel and his opponent. Pyrrha considered something for a moment and then clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"Jaune, this is the last class of the day, why don't you join me afterwards? I think I have something to show you," Pyrrha said, looking at him expectantly. Curious, Jaune nodded in agreement and they decided to go as soon as the class ended and they left their things in their dorm.

"The next fight is Nora Valkyrie and Blake Belladonna…"

-A wild line break appears!-

"It's a really nice view up here."

Jaune and Pyrrha had gone out to a roof above the first-year dorms. It had a very nice view of the grounds, and Jaune looked out interestedly, noting some of Beacon's towers, and a certain statue he had found earlier that week out in the distance.

"It is, isn't it?" Pyrrha joined him by his side, watching the other students moving around, class over for the day. They looked small from so high up, Jaune thought.

"I found it yesterday morning while I was looking for a quiet place to train where no one could bother me," Pyrrha explained, turning towards him. Jaune hummed and did the same.

"Oh yeah, you're super famous or something, right? I keep on forgetting," Jaune laughed, making Pyrrha smile at him fondly.

"Yes, it's quite bothersome for so many people to come and watch me train. You'd think they would spend their time more productively," Pyrrha huffed, making Jaune laugh more.

"I think it's natural to go and follow after a super star, Ms. Pumpking Pete's cover girl," Jaune teased her, making her puff her cheeks out like a child. "Still can't believe I didn't recognize you from that, I love Pumpkin Pete."

"That was years ago now, Jaune, Pumpkin Pete sponsors a new athlete every year remember?" Pyrrha explained. "Naturally I'd look quite different today from back then."

"Still, I even have the box with your face on it in my room back home you know. I kinda collect them," Jaune confessed, scratching the back of his head. Pyrrha giggled, amused but unsurprised.

"It's the kind of thing I imagine you'd do, considering your unfortunate choice of sleepwear," Pyrrha shuddered a little. She and the rest of JNPR still hadn't managed to convince Jaune to choose alternative pajamas.

"Hey now, Pumpkin Pete is awesome, and my mother made those for me you know!" Jaune argued, only succeeding in making Pyrrha laugh at him. Jaune was the one to huff this time, looking away.

"That cereal really isn't too good for you, you know. You should try mixing it up a little bit, maybe tomorrow you can have an omelette and some fruit?" Pyrrha suggested, continuing a small argument they had started earlier that week. Jaune rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

"I _told you_ , Pyrrha, Pumpkin Pete is a part of a very nutritional breakfast. I eat other stuff with it too, remember? I had toast and orange juice with it yesterday!" Jaune defended his favorite breakfast fervently. Pyrrha shook her head disappointedly.

"We'll work on it," Pyrrha promised, looking determined, Jaune sighed but didn't give in.

"Anyway, leaving that behind, why'd we come up here anyway? This all you had to show me? Cuz,it's cool and all, but…" Jaune asked, looking out towards the grounds and spotting Cardin and his team pushing each other around. He really didn't seem like such a jerk when he was on his own with them. Jaune wondered why he couldn't always be like that.

"I know you felt upset you didn't fight as hard as you could have against Ren," Pyrrha started, and Jaune's expression started to darken a bit, turning towards her and catching on. "You're not a bad fighter, Jaune, but I thought that maybe we could train together here after class, where no one can bother us?"

"You think I need help? That I'm too weak to improve on my own?" Jaune asked, taking a step back, his face angry now.

"W-What? No! No, that's not what I meant!" Pyrrha said desperately, trying to get closer, but Jaune turned his back on her.

"But you just said it!" Jaune yelled, voice filled with emotion. Pyrrha hesitantly placed a hand on his shoulder and was relieved when he didn't throw her hand off.

"You're not weak, Jaune," Pyrrha said softly, squeezing her hand. "You were essential in initiation, and you beat Cardin all on your own as well."

Jaune said nothing and remained silent, but his hand went up to squeeze Pyrrha's, and she smiled a little in relief. "Everyone needs a little help now and then, Jaune; there's no shame in it. I believe in you."

Pyrrha gasped as Jaune turned towards her, tears in his eyes. "You know you're the first person to ever tell me they believed in me?"

"What, no, that can't be," Pyrrha said, leading Jaune to sit down. Jaune looked up, spying birds flying and singing their little songs. "What about your parents? Surely they believe in you."

Jaune chuckled a little. "Do you know what they told me when I left home, Pyrrha? They told me it was okay if I came back home. To not worry if it was too much for me."

Pyrrha gasped and held a hand out to cover her mouth. "I can't believe that they would…"

Nodding bitterly, Jaune turned to look at the birds again. He somewhat envied how carefree they seemed at that moment. "Well you don't need to worry about that any longer, Jaune," Pyrrha told him firmly. Surprised, Jaune turned to look at her, and realized for the first time just how green her eyes were.

"Our entire team believes in you; _I_ believe in you. Even if your parents don't, you can trust in that." Pyrrha squeezed his hand.

"Your eyes are beautiful," Jaune suddenly blurted out, making Pyrrha's entire face suddenly turn a deep shade of red.

"W-Where did that come from?" Pyrrha stuttered, wondering if there was a hole she could hide in for feeling so embarrassed. "Weren't we just talking about you?"

Jaune laughed a little, his mood lightening up. "I'm glad you're my partner, Pyrrha." He squeezed her hand softly. Pyrrha's face was still flushed, but she felt extremely happy and squeezed back.

"I'm glad, too, Jaune," Pyrrha told him honestly and happily. "So, will you train together with me after all, or will you…" Pyrrha trailed off, looking at him bashfully.

"Yeah. I think I'd like that, Pyrrha," Jaune told her, leaning back. Pleased, Pyrrha leaned back with him, and the two stayed there at the rooftop until they had to meet up with their friends for dinner.

-Knight's Rise II: End-

 **AN: Special thanks to ZenithTempest for his good advice last chapter.**

 **I hope things aren't moving too fast with Pyrrha and Jaune. This is just what I felt happening in the moment, and I tried to think of something less sappy or romantic, but they really do have some nice chemistry. With a couple of wins under his belt and a bit more confidence, Jaune recognized Pyrrha as the lovely partner she is, something he wouldn't in canon for a while longer. Don't go thinking this one scene means they're boyfriend and girlfriend now, that's not how it works. They had a special moment, but they're not together, and Jaune still isn't really interested in her romantically.**

 **Anyway, as you can see, things are going differently. Some things are happening earlier than before, some people are getting slightly expanded backgrounds. Expect things to continue to get more and more different. This is just the start.**

 **Now, a couple of people reviewed as guests, so here are some responses. Other than that, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, I hope to get the next one out soon. Cheers.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Guest I: Jaune's semblance isn't a gamer semblance, if that's what you're asking.**

 **Guest II: I'm glad you liked the first chapter, and I hope this one put your mind at ease as to Jaune relying and winning everything through use of his semblance.**


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